When You Grow Up
by drcjsnider
Summary: Rose Weasley needs to be careful about who she dates. Scorpius Malfoy thinks she is nutters.


**Title:** When You Grow Up  
**Author:** drcjsnider  
**Recipient:** **sarahyyy**  
**Pairing(s):** Scorpius/Rose  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** Language  
**Summary:** Rose Weasley needs to be careful about who she dates. Scorpius Malfoy thinks she is nutters.  
**Word Count:** ~3k  
**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's notes:** **sarahyy** wanted Witty!Scorpius and Gryffindor!Rose, humour, a happy ending, and fluff with substance. I hit on most of your requests, but not sure about the follow through. Story was inspired and some of the lines are from the Bobby Vee song – _Come Back When You Grow Up Girl._ Big thanks to Kazfeist for doing the beta work on this so quickly.

Scorpius knew something was up when Rose plopped down across from him and batted her eyelashes. Rose Weasley was simply not the type of girl who fluttered her eyes at boys. Scorpius knew this because in addition to studying Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, he'd also been studying Rose during his time at Hogwarts. "What are you up to?" he asked.

"What makes you think I'm up to anything?" she replied, opening her eyes wide and letting her lips part slightly.

Anyone who didn't know her might assume she was the picture of innocence. Scorpius, however, wasn't fooled. He just arched an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

"Do you suppose people with suspicious natures get sorted into Slytherin or does being in Slytherin make you suspicious?" she asked, a dimple appearing briefly next to her lips.

"You're avoiding the question, Rose."

Rose sighed, bit her lip, and then dropped her eyes to look at him through her eyelashes. She looked wholesome and appealing. "I think we should start dating."

Scorpius' pulse kicked up a notch, but his face remained impassive. "Really?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

He was certain she didn't mean it. If there had been any indication over the last three years that Rose thought of him at as a romantic possibility, Scorpius would have been dancing through the halls of Hogwarts as happy as a house elf scrubbing toilets._Merlin, she is going to drive me barmy._"What brought you to this conclusion?"

She frowned a bit as if the question confused her. "I conducted hours and hours of meticulous research on relationships. What do you think I did, just picked the first bloke I saw in the library?"

_Of course. Who besides Rose would turn dating into a problem to be solved?_ "Don't you think dating should be based on things like attraction?" Scorpius asked her. "Surely, at least this one aspect of your life should proceed naturally and not be a bloody research project."

"That might work for some people, but not my family," she said, resting her chin in her hand and staring at him. "The members of my family have to be super careful about who they date."

_She was mad. Certifiable._ Scorpius wished he didn't find her so fascinating. He wished that he could get up and walk out of the library now before she pulled him down the lane of lunacy alongside her. "I'm already regretting asking this," he told her. "But why does your family have to cautiously date?"

"Because," she explained slowly, as if she thought he might not catch on immediately. "They tend to marry the first person they date seriously."

"You don't say," Scorpius drawled, sounding sceptical.

"You don't believe me!" she stated hotly.

"You must admit it sounds a bit foolish."

She started to count off on her fingers. "My grandparents, my mum and dad, my Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, my Uncle Percy, they all married their first significant boyfriend or girlfriend. Do you understand what that means?"

Scorpius shook his head. _You're a loon?_, he thought but was smart enough not to say it aloud.

"I'm under a lot of pressure here. I can't just say 'yes' to the first bloke who asks me to Hogsmeade or I'll end up spending the rest of my life as Mrs. Ethan Flint, or Mrs. Matt Finnegan, or Mrs. Someone-Equally-Unacceptable."

An irrational surge of jealously surged through Scorpius. "Did those prats ask you out?

Rose slammed the palm of her hand down upon the table, making Scorpius jump back. "Stay focused on my main point, Malfoy!"

Scorpius was silent for several seconds as he thought back over his conversation with Rose. She wanted to date him. She wanted to date _him_ because she needed to date someone with whom she could spend the rest of her life. _What the fuck?_ "You think that I'm husband material?!"

"You make it sound so subjective," Rose muttered, pulling a bound volume of parchment out of her bag and pushing it across the table toward him. "I've done compatibility studies, intelligence analysis, and even some divination experiments – and you know what a load of rubbish I find divination. From almost every measure, except for family history and ur… blood status, we are an ideal match."

Scorpius supposed he should be flattered that Rose thought they would be a good couple. But he didn't want to be with her because some formula said they could get along. He wanted her to desire him, to be attracted to him, and to love him because her emotions were as consumed with him as his were with her. "Merlin, you need to grow up."

"What?!" Rose almost screeched, earning her glares from several people at nearby tables. She lowered her voice. "I'm two months older than you."

"Well you aren't acting like it. Did you actually think I would want to date you because you made some calculations on a bunch of parchment?" Scorpius asked more harshly than he'd intended. "Fuck, Rose, if I got turned on by math, I'd be dating my Arithmancy book."

She frowned and looked hurt. "You don't have to be such a big git about this."

Scorpius knew he didn't, but he was furious. He had wanted Rose for years. To find out that she was interested in him only because she saw him as a solution to a problem was galling. She didn't want him because of his personality, or his looks, or even because of his father's Gringotts' account. He was simply a means for her to get out of a dilemma. She could be sitting across from _anyone_ right now, making the same offer, if that was what her calculations had told her to do. "Well excuse me for interfering with your master plan, but I didn't sign up to be a Flobberworm in your experiment. Just go make your _offer_ to whomever ended up as number two on your list."

"I can't," she glared, looking extremely unhappy.

_Walk away, walk away, walk away._ "Why not?" he asked her. _Merlin, I'm weak._

"Because the next three people on my list are my cousins," she stated in a harsh whisper, colouring slightly at her confession.

"You included your cousins in your dating formula?" Scorpius asked, astounded at her admission.

"I wanted it to be as accurate as possible!" she replied in irritation.

Scorpius wanted to bang his head against the table. He wanted to grab Rose and shake her. He wanted to slide his arms around her and kiss her until she forgot all about her charts and calculations. She had so scrambled his mind that he couldn't think straight and was barely able to maintain his composure. "Rose, living and loving are not as easy as you are trying to make them. I refuse to have anything to do with a plan that will undoubtedly ruin our friendship."

"Okay, I see now that I approached this incorrectly, but I still think we could—"

"No."

"Perhaps just an outing to—"

"No."

"Scorpius," she breathed out quietly. "I really think we should—"

"Damn it, Rose! I said no and I meant it," Scorpius stood quickly and gathered up his books, stuffing them into his bag. He refused to look at her. She was probably hurt and upset. Scorpius worried that he'd give in to what _he_ desperately wanted if he saw her crying.

Leaving the library, Scorpius slung his satchel over his shoulder and stalked toward the dungeon. Despite his intention _not_ to contemplate Rose's offer, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd made a mistake. He'd wanted to pursue her for the last three years, but had held back because she hadn't shown any interest in dating. Rose's life revolved around her studies and Quidditch. Scorpius, therefore, had been content to wait.

Moreover, he hadn't been especially concerned that by waiting he might lose her to another bloke. He wasn't being unkind by believing that during her first five years at Hogwarts, Rose had not turned many heads. She'd been taller than most of the boys her age, she'd been flat chested with no discernable hips, her hair was the same Weasley red as most of her cousins, but it was longer, wilder, and more outrageous than any of theirs. Although Scorpius saw her as a diamond in the rough, he'd been grateful that none of the other wizards their age recognized her potential or had given her any of their attention.

Unfortunately, the male population at Hogwarts had started to notice Rose at the beginning of sixth year. Not only had many of the boys shot up several inches, so that Rose no longer towered over them, but she had also gotten curvy. Her body wasn't centrefold quality, but it was impressive enough to cause many boys to shift uncomfortably in their chairs whenever she walked into a room. Likewise, while her hair was still wild and unmanageable, more than one male student had remarked that it made her look like a girl who had just been well-shagged, rather than like someone who was the victim of a spell gone awry.

More than any other sixth year girl, Rose now looked like a woman. Her mind, however, hadn't caught up with her body. In spite of being asked to accompany a number of different blokes to Hogsmeade, Rose had not shown them any interest. She still spent the majority of her time either in the library studying or on the pitch practicing. Scorpius had been more attentive than ever before in looking for some indication that Rose was ready to date, but he had seen nothing – at least he'd seen nothing until today – to suggest she was becoming interested in boys romantically.

As he stomped into his room, Scorpius dropped his bag to the floor and flopped on top of his bed. He blamed Rose completely for the fiasco in the library. She had offered him exactly what he desired, but not on terms with which he could live. She was destined for disappointment and Scorpius refused to be the one who broke her heart. He knew that no matter how comprehensive her formulas, one could not rationalize their way into a successful relationship. Rose's determination to find the prefect partner through compatibility tests was doomed to fail.

Scorpius and Rose had no contact for the next two weeks. In their classes, she refused to meet his eye. When they passed each other in the hallway, she'd look straight through him, and when they'd bumped into each other in the library on evening, she'd muttered 'insufferable git' just loud enough so that he could be assured she was still furious.

Through it all, Scorpius continued to want her. Her hostility didn't matter, her coldness didn't matter, her anger and rage didn't matter; all that mattered was that he longed for her. All Malfoy men had a fatal weakness. For Lucius, it had been his desire for power; for Draco, it had been his need for attention; and for Scorpius, it was Rose Weasley.

He didn't know how much longer he could hold off from pursuing her in the way he had always planned, in the way that would hopefully sweep her off her feet and convince her they were meant for each other. It was all so fucking ironic. _He_ thought they were made for each other. _She_ thought they were made for each other. But he would not date her since she only was interested in him because a piece of paper told her to be interested. Undoubtedly, his father would find it hilarious. Of course, his father would also tell him to stop worrying about principles and just take what was being offered. Draco Malfoy wasn't much for morality or sacrifice.

By the end of the third week of his not talking to Rose, Scorpius decided that enough was enough. He would give in to her lunacy. He would take her out to Hogsmeade, he would date her, he would snog her, and he would be her boyfriend. He hoped that through such contact, she would eventually fall for him in the way he had always wanted.

His mind made up, he marched into the Grand Hall and approached the Gryffindor table. Rose was there smiling and laughing brightly. Scorpius frowned, however, because something was wrong, something was out of place. Then he saw it, she was flirting with Richard Thomas. The ponce had his arm around her and she was giggling at whatever tripe was coming out of his mouth.

In the past, Scorpius had never paid much attention to Thomas – besides to respect his skills on the Quidditch Pitch. Sizing him up now, however, Scorpius concluded that Rich Thomas was a no-account dunderhead. He wasn't a prefect, he wasn't at the head of his classes, he wasn't a brilliant conversationalist, he wasn't even the nicest guy in Gryffindor. Rose was obviously scraping the bottom of her compatibility list if Thomas was the boy she'd settled on.

As he stood there watching them, Scorpius unconsciously clenched his jaw, his hands, and just about every muscle in his body. Before he regained control enough to move away, Rose glanced up and caught his eye. She blushed, her eyes opening wide at the sight of him standing there. She was all innocence and confusion. Scorpius wanted to grab her by the arm and drag her somewhere private so he could demand to know exactly what she was doing. He didn't even contemplate how inappropriate such a scene would be – which was very indicative of his anger, since he _always_ calculated the consequences of every action.

Before Scorpius could do anything outrageous, Thomas gave Rose's shoulder a squeeze and she turned back toward him, her face relaxing into a wide smile. Although Scorpius hated to acknowledge it, it was clear that Rose liked the git. Even if she had initially approached Thomas because of her idiotic study on compatibility, apparently she was enjoying his company. Inhaling deeply through his nose, Scorpius turned on his heel and stomped out of the Great Hall.

The rest of the school year was miserable for Scorpius. He replayed the scene in the library over and over in his mind, continually flaying himself for having let Rose slip from his grasp. His self-loathing only got worse when he would catch sight of Rose studying with Thomas, or holding hands with him as they walked between classes, or snogging him next to the lake. A mantra of 'that could have been me, that could have been me, that could have me,' would then run continuously through his head almost driving him mad.

Although Scorpius was glad when Rose began talking to him again just days after the he'd found out about her and Thomas, it wasn't the same as before. They shared no long conversations about classes or Quidditch, they did not bond over tales about their families, and they definitely did not discuss their plans for upcoming Hogsmeade weekends. Scorpius watched for signs that Rose was growing weary of Thomas, but she appeared just as smitten with the older Gryffindor at the end of the school year as she had when Scorpius had first seen them together.

As the blond Slytherin packed for the summer holiday, he vowed to find himself a girl while on break. He'd find a girl who was cuter and funnier and smarter than Rose. A girl his parents would like. He'd find a girl who didn't have a gaggle of cousins breathing down her neck every minute of every day. There was no way in hell he going to spend another year at Hogwarts mooning over Rose, especially since she must now be practically _engaged_ to Thomas – what with Weasleys' marrying their first serious boyfriends and all. Scorpius snorted at the idea.

"Oh that sounded elegant," a female voice teased from the door.

Scorpius whipped around to see Rose standing in the hall outside his room. "What are you doing here?" he asked a bit more sharply than he intended.

Rose walked forward dressed in her school robes, but looking more beautiful than Scorpius could ever remember. "I just wanted to say 'good-bye' before we got on the train."

He raised an eyebrow. This was the first time she had sought him out for a private conversation since their library encounter months ago.

"You know how things are on the _Express_. I'll be pulled off into a compartment with my cousins, you'll be trapped with the Slytherins, and there won't be any opportunity for us to talk."

"I'm not sure we should be talking in private, Rose. I'm quite certain that Thomas would not approve." In fact, if he was in Thomas' shoes, Scorpius knew he'd be spending much of his free time going around threatening blokes who got too chummy with Rose.

"Well, he doesn't really have anything to say about it."

Scorpius shook his head. "I know you are an independent girl and are all hung up on maintaining some type of modern understanding about freedom for women, but it is unseemly for us to be alone together in my room while you are dating someone. If you aren't worried about _your_ reputation or what your boyfriend will say, then you should give a thought to my situation. I have no desire to be thought of as a cad."

Rose smiled and took a step closer to him. If she reached out, she'd be able to grab his hand or caress his face. _She was definitely too close._ "I'm going to refrain from dwelling on what a pompous swot you just sounded like, in order to inform you that I am no longer dating anyone."

Scorpius froze. Rose was no longer dating Thomas. She had sought him out to let him know what she was unattached. His mind had a difficult time wrapping itself around this new information, so it was perhaps unavoidable that he'd blurt out something completely inane. "But I thought that Weasleys married their first romantic partners?"

She shook her head, a smile playing about her lips. "Apparently, I was wrong. As my parents explained it over the spring holiday, Weasleys tend to marry the 'second' person they date seriously. My mum dated some international Quidditch star before she got together with my dad. My dad dated one of his house mates. Uncle Harry, Uncle Percy, and Uncle George all dated someone else before falling in love with the person who became their spouse."

Scorpius visibly swallowed. "So you are here because…."

"Because I wanted to say good-bye," she replied in a gentle voice, sounding a bit vulnerable.

"So this isn't just another stab at dating someone from your compatibility study?" he asked, wanting to make sure that Rose had no secret agenda.

She shook her head again. "A really smart guy once told me that I should allow my romantic relationships to proceed naturally. I ignored his advice for a long time, but now I'm willing to give it a shot."

Scorpius licked his lips. Rose Weasley was free, she was unattached, she was finally grown up, and he wanted her just as much as always. "Well… well, that's good to hear."

Rose took a step back. "I guess I'd better let you finish packing."

He nodded. "Thanks."

As she turned to leave, Scorpius knew he couldn't leave his summer, his seventh year, and perhaps even the rest of his life hanging on just a 'thanks.' "Rose!" he called, following her down the dormitory hall.

She stopped and smiled at him. Scorpius grinned back because she was giving him a damn sight better smile than he'd ever seen her give Thomas.

"Do you think… that is, would you mind… bugger. Can I call on you this summer?" he asked, stumbling through his words. Scorpius grimaced, so much for sweeping her off her feet with his eloquence.

"Sure, I'd like that," she responded, leaving herself open to the possibility of there being a _them_ in the future.

Scorpius smiled and admired her willingness not to the force the issue. He knew it went against her nature just to sit back and let things happen – to trust someone else to carry through on a subject so essential to her happiness. Obviously, Rose Weasley had grown up, leaving Scorpius Malfoy determined to woo and to win the woman she had become.

The End


End file.
